Tuesday, December 22, 2015

I'm winding down work for 2015 and today is officially my last day of it, then I'm on vacation for the rest of the year. I'm really not doing much work today though. I had my yearly review this morning with my manager, then met with one of the sales reps that I work with. After that, I pretty much said "done." This afternoon I've been doing some sewing. I'm making some color blocked felted wool scarves. They are turning out pretty cute, too. I think they look like something you could pick up in a cool boutique in Haight-Ashbury. Super trendy!

Since this is actually a paper crafting blog, I guess I should get on to my card today. It's made using Karen's last Sweet Sunday Sketch. I'm sad to see this challenge go. When I first discovered blogs and challenges a few years ago, Karen's SSSC was the first one that I participated in, so it holds a special place in my crafty heart. I didn't always have the time to make a card every week, but when I look back through my blog, there sure are a lot of SSSC posts.

This is the BirthdayFarm Animals set from Simon Says Stamp. I used all four animals in the set by masking each after stamping. The order of stamping is the cow, then the goat, then the chicken, then the pig. They were stamped in Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. I used Expresso Dimensional Pearls for the cupcake frosting and Crystal Effects over all of the eyes. The balloon has a few layers of Wink Of Stella glitter.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

I'm back from my work travels with a horrible cold and I'm not feeling too well. Luckily, I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow, I just have some reports to finish, so I can make it an office day.

My sister's birthday was yesterday and since she has gotten her present and the card that I made for her, so it's safe to post a picture of her card. I made this last Sunday using a super cute SugarPea Designs set and the Sugar Sketch #33.

I stamped the image in Memento tuxedo black and colored it with Copics, then used a Die-namics circle die to cut it out per the sketch. I love how these old SU felt flowers match the patterned papers. Unfortunately, I can't tell you where the papers are from. I have this bag of random paper scraps and these were in it.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

I hope you are having a good weekend. I had to do some work, work this morning but I got it done early and then went right to my stamp table to make a few more Christmas cards. I think I have enough now so this afternoon I will be signing and addressing them so they can be mailed this week. I have another three days away from home this coming week, so I need to really buckle down on getting them done and out.

LeAnne has a traditional Christmas color palette for us this week at The Paper Players of Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow and Very Vanilla.

I'm a little disappointed in how the candy cane turned out, but not enough to scrap the card. I stamped it in Cherry Cobbler, then colored over every other stripe with the Cherry Cobbler marker to give it dimension. It would have been fine had I left it alone, but I decided to sparkle it up with some Wink Of Stella and the marker ink ran some. I'm sure whom ever gets the card won't really notice. Just us stampers, LOL. I liked this holiday paper and it had the dark red and greens for the challenge. It also has the kraft, but I'm declaring it as a "neutral". My story and sticking to it!

Supplies

Stamps: Scentsational Season and Festival Of Trees (sentiment) sets by Stampin' Up

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Last night we walked into our little village of Encinitas to watch the Holiday Parade. It's always so much fun. There were around 100 entries, all local. Lots of kids from the Scouts and YMCA clubs, schools, etc. It's so fun to watch the little ones on their scooters all decked out with lights.

The rest of the day will not be spent stamping. My manager signed me up for a Presentation Skills class several months ago and the class is three days this coming week in Los Angeles. We finally received the "pre-class" assignment on Thursday afternoon! We have to write three 10 minute Power Point presentations that we will be giving in class. Certainly not how I want to spend my Sunday, but with a full work day tomorrow, I really have no other option. I'd should be crafting cards rather than "crafting" Power Point presentations. (Many Dec. birthdays that I still need to make cards for).

But, enough ranting. I do have a card to share that I made for this week's theme challenge for The Paper Players. Claire's theme this week is "Let It Snow." I decided to play with water coloring again and this is what I came up with.

I combined three different stamp sets to make my snowy, North Pole scene. I started by stamping the snow flakes with VersaMark ink and heat embossing with SU white EP. To create the sky I used a variety of the darker blue markers. For the water, I stamped the waves with VersaMark and heat embossed with white EP and used the lighter blue markers. While still wet, dabbed in dark blue to make the deeper water. The bear and icebergs are stamped on X-Press IT Blending card stock and colored with Copics. I brushed over the icebergs with a Wink Of Stella glitter pen and IRL they look icy. The star was made with gold water color markers and punched with a retired SU punch. Lot's of steps, but very fun!

Supplies

Stamps: Polar Pals set by Avery Elle, Endless Wishes and Good Greetings sets by Stampin' Up